- NEW: Obama wants military benefits fix today, spokesman says
- "Am I going to be on a payment plan for the rest of my life?" fallen soldier's mother asks
- The House members-only gym remains open
- Some private groups are offering assistance to military families
(CNN) -- [Breaking news update at 1:30 p.m.]
President Barack Obama was disturbed to learn that death benefits were not being paid to survivors of fallen military survivors as a result of the partial government shutdown and has directed the Pentagon, the Office of Management and Budget and White House lawyers to figure out a way to address the problem, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday. The president expects the problem "to be fixed today," Carney said.
[Original story posted at 1:17 p.m.]
'Nightmare' for fallen troops' families: Shutdown halts payments
(CNN) -- When Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel visits Dover Air Force Base Wednesday, he didn't just honor troops killed in Afghanistan. His presence also sent a message about the government shutdown.
Hagel attended a ceremony for the return of soldiers' remains -- at a time the families of those service members are not receiving the standard benefits typically given to them.
Due to the partial federal government shutdown, those benefits, which include a $100,000 payment, are being withheld.
Funeral and burial reimbursements are also included. So is a gratuity for travel to funeral or memorial services -- or to be at Dover Air Force Base where remains of the fallen typically go.
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Lawmakers play politics, country suffers It's the "worst nightmare" for military families, says Amy Neiberger-Miller of TAPS, a support network for families of the fallen.
Lance Cpl. Jeremiah Collins, 19, died in Afghanistan's Helmand Province.
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Now, his mother doesn't know how she'll cover his burial.
"Am I going to be on a payment plan for the rest of my life so that my son can have the services he deserves?" Collins said, in a report from CNN affiliate WTMJ.
Their plight is the latest fallout from the shutdown, now in its ninth day.
"Lord, when our federal shutdown delays payments of death benefits to the families of children dying on far away battlefields, it is time for our lawmakers to say enough is enough," Senate chaplain the Rev. Barry Black said in his morning prayer for lawmakers.
Lawmakers in the House were scheduled to vote Wednesday to resume "appropriations for death gratuities and related survivor benefits."
"The president is the commander in chief. He should not be using troops and their families as pawns in this political bickering," Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pennsylvania said on the House floor. "He should be doing everything he can to stand up for the men and women of our military. Instead he is refusing to negotiate until he gets his way."
The hold-up on death benefit payments is just one issue affecting military families because of the shutdown.
Childcare programs have been scratched, subsidized military grocery stores are closed, non-essential medical care has been cut back, and kids' sports programs have been canceled, CNNMoney reports.
Other private groups are offering military families assistance as well.
"That America could fail the families of our fallen heroes -- appalling, frightening," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, on the Senate floor.
"Shouldn't we be embarrassed about this? Shouldn't we be ashamed?" Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, said.
Fisher House, a group that offers assistance to families of troops in need, has offered an advance grant to such families during the shutdown, according to a letter from Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, to Hagel.
Meanwhile, the members-only gym at the House remains open.
"The electricity, the hot water, the towels -- they are not provided by gym fairies," Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, said Wednesday, calling, on the House floor, for the gym to be closed . "They are provided by taxpayers."
"Some of the most fanatic about inflicting unnecessary pain on the American public are regulars, enjoying our House gym while the staff gym is closed," he said.
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CNN's Barbara Starr contributed to this report.
